Tempest and Tide [Nikolai Lantsov]

~ Chapter Three ~

As soon as the door closes behind me I'm on edge, being alone with a Pirate was not the ideal ending to my day.

"Please have a seat, I find a good meal to be most excellent for encouraging conversation," He sweeps his arm toward one of the chairs seated around the long dining table. Somehow in the few minutes I was outside the tables has been covered in an array of decadent dishes, all of them looking worthy of the King himself.

I don't sit, irritation already sparking in my chest at the roundabout way he speaks. Even Nikolai wasn't this bad - unless he was intentionally trying to see how long it took my patience to snap, to push me to the brink.

Sturmhond looks amused at my small act of rebellion as he takes his seat at the head of the table.

"What do you want?"

The words aren't as tempered as I intended, the bite clear in every syllable.

"I want you to sit with me."

A shiver cuts across my nerves. Though there's not so much as a bottle in the room, the fruity smell of wine is tickling the back of my throat, bringing with it memories of the night that I would rather not relive.

Gripping the back of the chair so fiercely my knuckles turn white, I manage to grit out the words, "Can we please cut the games, Captain."

"Alright." Sturmhond tips the chair back, his boots thunking onto the table next to his plate before he continues, "You have no money and no family in Novyi Zem, I know because no noble does. The Ravkans are searching for you and I've heard whispers that there's a rogue Grisha on the coasts. It really wasn't hard to put two and two together. You have no chips left to play. You acted well Korina, but that's over so please just sit and enjoy the food."

I drop into the seat before me, glaring at the boy with as much hatred as I can muster. With the reality of my situation laid out so brazenly and with such little fanfare, I can feel my hope slipping away.

If we're not pretending anymore he might as well know how I really feel. I spit the words with all the spite I hold, "What do you want, Pirate?"

He holds up a finger, unphased by my anger, "Privateer, darling. I'm not a Pirate, I fly under the Ravkin flag."

"So you're going to take me back."

I knew it. Curse me for believing even for a second Nikolais ridiculous strategies would work. I could never pull off a lie at court, I don't know why now should be any different.

The Pirate's voice cuts smoothly into my thoughts, just as the ship's hull slices the waves, "Unless we can make a deal."

I stare blankly up at him, uncertain that I heard correctly.

"Don't look so shocked, I'm nothing if not a negotiator," The privateer grins, tapping his chin in a mockery of thought, "Though I do so love exceeding people's expectations, so I suppose a bit of shock is inevitable."

I don't share in his amusement, "What sort of deal are you proposing."

"Well since you ask, I've-"

The captains murky green eyes snag on something, stopping dead in the midst of sweeping over me. In the low light I swear I see them widening. The look grates against my skin, sending shivers aross my skin.

The captain clears his throat quickly, trying to fill the silence that has crawled in around us and begins pulling dishes toward him, examining each with the same careful gaze he ran over me.

"Lady Beyove, did you, perhaps, find something new to wear when you arrived on my ship."

Oh. I tug at the hem of the sleeve, my nerves buzzing, "If you want them back, I can-"